Arsenal continue to defy expectations and lead the way in their Premier League title challenge against reigning champions Manchester City. Manchester United are not far off the pace in third place and could make a late challenge should Marcus Rashford continue to stay fit and firing in the goals.
The Gunners fell to second in the table as City picked up a crucial 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium. The title race took yet another twist just days later as Arsenal came from behind twice to win 4-2 against Aston Villa, as City drew 1-1 against Nottingham Forest despite having a number of clear chances to win the game.
Mikel Arteta will hope his side can make it back-to-back wins this weekend with a victory against Leicester who head into the game off the back of a 3-0 defeat against United. Arsenal still have a key game in hand - which will be played against Everton - over City and United that could see them extend their advantage over Pep Guardiola's side in second to five points.
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There is a lingering problem for Arteta ahead of a crucial run of fixtures for the north London outfit. Arsenal have conceded 11 goals in their last eight league matches and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has warned they must improve defensively if they are to get their hands on the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2004.
"One of the traits of a run-in is if you’re conceding goals and teams think they have a chance of scoring, it’s very difficult to win a league, it really is," Neville said on the Sky Sports podcast.
"They just need to watch that. This weekend [against Aston Villa] will give them confidence and if they can get back to some clean sheets that will be really important.
"Conceding goals is something they just need to watch out for because that will make things very difficult for them."
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